Regulation of Coastal Weathering in Massachusetts

[Geoengineering News]

https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/sabin_climate_change/270/

Authors: Ashwin Murthy, Korey Silverman-Roati, Romany M. Webb

March 2026

Abstract

Carbon dioxide removal (“CDR”) will be needed, alongside emissions reductions, to achieve global climate objectives. One such technique is coastal enhanced weathering (“CEW”), which looks to accelerate the natural processes of weathering of alkaline-rich rocks to remove and sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This natural weathering process occurs slowly — over centuries to millennia — but scientists have suggested the possibility of speeding it up by finely grinding alkaline rocks and spreading them in the coastal zone, where the natural wave and tidal forces will catalyze weathering. As the alkaline rocks weather, they convert carbonic acid present in the ocean into carbonate and bicarbonate ions, reducing the acidity of the ocean and increasing its ability to uptake additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, CEW presents a number of challenges and risks that require further research before deployment at scale can occur.

There is interest in advancing CEW research, and potentially deployment, in Massachusetts but that could raise a host of complex legal issues. There are currently no U.S. federal or state laws that specifically address CEW projects in Massachusetts. However, CEW projects in the state may be regulated under various water pollution control laws and other general environmental laws. Since these laws were developed with other activities in mind, there is often uncertainty as to whether, when, and how they will apply to CEW projects. This white paper reviews the U.S. federal and state laws that could apply to CEW projects in Massachusetts, as part of a broader Sabin Center project exploring the role of U.S. states in regulating CDR activities. As elaborated in the paper, the applicability of these laws will depend on a number of factors, including exactly where a CEW project occurs and the precise activities involved.

Source: Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

[Dan Galpern]

All,

Less than 2 years ago the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) determined that, to meet internationally-recognized year-2050 climate goals, both "steep reductions in GHG emissions," and  "a large-scale increase in the capacity of novel CDR pathways" would be required. The latter, it observed, must be "comparable to the size of the natural land and ocean carbon sinks.".

The Framework Convention (UNFCCC) and Article 6.4 of its Paris Agreement are critically-important tools for securing international cooperation towards both these means, among others.

However, the Trump Administration has announced its unilateral withdrawal from the UNFCCC. This move is remarkable in part because the U.S. has contributed more than any other nation to the atmospheric overburden of GHGs, and in part because the U.S. Senate in 1992 provided its advice and consent with not one Senator in dissent.  

In our view, Congress needs to resist this unilateral withdrawal. There remain now less than 10 months to present an effective challenge. Accordingly, we invite you to sign and sponsor our Remain-In Petition to Congress. 

For more information, please see: here, here, and here.

NB: At our Petition page, we eagerly accept sign-ons and sponsorships from both individuals and organizations.

Dan

Dan Galpern

General Counsel & Executive Director

Climate Protection and Restoration Initiative

2495 Hilyard St., Suite A, Eugene, Oregon 97405

t: 541.968.7164 | e: dan.g...@CPRclimate.org